We talked about how Azriel wanted to save eris insted of freaking out like Cassian because of Valkyries being thrown into the blood rite but after last live with sarah... cass wasn’t even with azriel in the first place. He was watching nesta while Azriel was off saving eris 😀
Cassian was not off with azriel like with the whole Eris thing
And this is how the actual book turned out:
Cassian couldn’t breathe. Hadn’t been able to breathe or speak for long minutes now. His family had arrived, and they all surrounded him in the wrecked bedroom of Emerie’s house. They were speaking, Azriel with some urgency, but Cassian didn’t hear him, heard nothing but the roaring in his head before he said to no one in particular, “I’m going after them.”
“Cassian’s stomach turned over. Nesta and her friends—his friends—were in the Rite. And he could do nothing to interfere, not without damning them all. His hands shook. “So, what—we just sit on our asses for a week and wait?” The idea was abhorrent. Feyre gripped his trembling fingers, squeezing tight. “Did you— Cassian, weren’t you listening at all when we got here?” No. He’d barely heard anything. Azriel said tightly, “My spies got word that Eris has been captured by Briallyn. She sent his remaining soldiers after him while he was out hunting with his hounds. They grabbed him and somehow, they were all winnowed back to her palace. I’m guessing using Koschei’s power.” “I don’t care.” Cassian aimed for the doorway. Even if … Fuck. Hadn’t he been the one to tell Rhys not to go after those soldiers? To leave them be? He was a fool. He’d left an armed enemy in his blind spot and forgotten about it. But Eris could rot for all he cared.Az said, “We have to get him out.”
You can clearly see the difference between Cassian’s reaction to Azriel’s... like he went to save the male he hated instead of freaking out like Cassian. And they expect me to believe their ginger fave and azriel are mates? PLEASE! When we have this scene with Azriel and Elain:
“From the shadows near the entrance to the tent, Azriel said, as if in answer to some unspoken debate, “I’m getting her back.” Nesta slid her gaze to the shadowsinger. Azriel’s hazel eyes glowed golden in the shadows. Nesta said, “Then you will die.” Azriel only repeated, rage glazing that stare, “I’m getting her back.”
When this elriel scene was reminded to us three times in acosf:
Elain had been stolen by the Cauldron and saved by Azriel and Feyre.
Azriel stiffened. “I know. I helped rescue Elain, after all.” Az hadn’t so much as hesitated before going into the heart of Hybern’s war-camp.
“Eyes can be blinded,” Nesta said. “Not the ones under my command,” Azriel said with soft menace. Nesta met his stare, knowing he was the only one aside from Feyre who could truly understand her hesitation. He’d gone with Feyre into the heart of Hybern’s camp to save Elain—he knew the risk.
The guy didn’t hesitate to go to heart of the Hybern’s war-camp even though he could die to save Elain but he was talking about Eris while Vallyries were thrown into the blood rite 😀
"You- we trained them well" the way he also was about to not take credit of their training
The way she rewrote the scene and still didn’t give Azriel a bigger reaction.
In the first draft, we probably wouldn’t have seen Azriel. Just Cassian watching Nesta. Obviously, we wouldn’t be able to tell what Azriel is feeling here because he’s simply not there.
But she rewrote the entirety of Cassian’s storyline here and stuck him with Azriel, and still decided Azriel was going to have a minimal reaction to his “mate” being abducted into the BR. She added more Azriel and STILL DID NOT GIVE HIM A REACTION.
So... this is very interesting. And from a writing perspective, this puts Azriel with Eris, Koschei, and the Crown alone. Was Azriel initially going to be captured? What would Elain's reaction have been if Cassian had to tell the IC he could see Azriel captured by the Crown and in the Blood Rite being forced to hurt Nesta, long after G/wyn and Emerie had disappeared through the monolith? Was Azriel simply going to get captured and remain captured at the end of ACOSF? Would Elain have been involved in trying to help get Azriel out of the Crown's clutches?
SJM doesn't say there was no Eris thing, just that Cassian wasn't originally there. I know early drafts should be taken with a grain of salt, and we don't know how everything else was structured. Maybe Az simply flew back once he realized Eris was captured. But it's interesting to imagine the function of keeping the Eris/Crown/Koschei storyline in there initially, without Cassian getting "taken" by it first.
I had always thought this line was very specifically pointed at Azriel:
Oh ho ho, Elain is SO gonna have her "I'm getting him back" moment.
YOU ACTUALLY MAKE A GREAT POINT.
and I always thought that line was directed at Az not cassian so 👀👀👀
This is so interesting and weird 🤔🤔🤔
